Why prisons have become a growth industry

With scarcely a murmur of protest or criticism, and despite recent relaxations in parole regulations, the Home Office has embarked on the largest prison building programme this century. Why have prisons escaped the effects of spending cut‐backs, as programmes in health, education and welfare have not? The answer seems to lie in an ideological commitment to the prison as an institution, combined with political and bureaucratic lethargy in the face of restrictive practices and management inefficiency.